Everyday English words in everyday French

[French Kat in England]

What about boys bands ?

[Teamedup]

Normann, what is the english way, I'm from the north and there is a very pronounced 'uh' sound when I say just. In fact the 'j' is quite pronounced too. Where as I have friends from the south where it sounds like jast.

[Normann]

Teamedoop - Either of those will do for me.

Jast thought of another one, can`t remember if it`s been said before...... jackpot 

[French Kat in England]

"Normann, what is the english way, I'm from the north and there is a very pronounced 'uh' sound when I say just. In fact the 'j' is quite pronounced too. Where as I have friends from the south where it sounds like jast. "

I suppose you are talking to me ?

To me, the english way is to pronounce the "j" as "dj", a bit like "djast". The way you pronounce it in english basically.

The french way is when you say "juste", with a french "u" sound and no "dj" sound. It is not easy to explain

I found it interesting that you have never heard it before. I should maybe add that it is only used in colloquial oral french

Well, never mind, that was just my little contribution anyway

French Kat in England

[Teamedup]

Kat, I wouldn't say djast. Not at all, ever. I sound my u's in a very 'u' way, being from the NE of England. I sound the 'u's' in this way in just and butter and up and just about anything else I can think of, even in umbrella.

I use the word 'just' in french, just as you have, only I really try to give it that sound as the 'u' in 'vu' has. It isn't an easy sound for me to do.

[French Kat in England]

It is not easy to talk about sounds in writing, is it ? It is possible that the "djast" I am thinking of is different from what you think I mean (does that make sense ? lol ), just because I am thinking in french and you in english.

So to try and see if I understood right, do you mean that you don't say "just" like in the "queen's english", but you have a different way of saying it and the "u" sounds more like "you" when you say it ? Fascinating

Maybe I should try and explain again what I meant :

There is in french the word "juste" that is used to say "tight" (as in "cette robe est un peu juste"), or "short" (2h pour y aller, c'est un peu juste) or "nearly, just in time" ("j'ai attrapé le train, mais c'etait juste" which I would translate by "I nearly missed the train" or "I caught it just in time"...).

Well, "juste" with that meaning, in coloquial oral french, is sometimes pronounced "djast" (or a bad attempt at copying english if you want ) instead of the french way. It is, I suppose, a way of sounding a bit "cool"

Well enough of that nonsense, I am doing my own head in now

French Kat in England

[Teamedup]

LOL My accent is firmly from the NE. I think this is so funny, we don't even say 'you' as perhaps you would imagine either.

I use the 'juste' word in french all the time. Le Juste Prix is a good example of how it can be used too. 

[Dick Smith]

For just this purpose the International Phonetic Alphabet was devised: see

http://www.antimoon.com/how/pronunc-soundsipa.htm

[French Kat in England]

Thanks Dick. I know that phonetical alphabet because I have used it at university when I was studying english. I didn't use it because almost noone knows it And also, it doesn't work to describe a french sound anyway.

 

"LOL My accent is firmly from the NE. I think this is so funny, we don't even say 'you' as perhaps you would imagine either."

Exactly

Anyway, I thought of other words we use in french : Le racket (as in racketing at school) and le ticket (which is so commonly used that people forget that it is a english word (or is it ? )

French Kat in England

 

 

[Dick Smith]

My apologies.

[Pucette<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>Pucette<FONT><P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt">"Qui ne connaît pas la campagne lhiver, ne connaît pas la campagne et ne connaît pas]

Robert says that "ticket" has been with you since 1727, it is indeed English in origin.